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The Middle Age
The Middle Age, also known as the Second Age or the Age of Magic, was the second age of Wyrdian recorded history. The Middle Age lasted for nearly 3,251 years after the genocide of the Werefolk at the end of the First Age. Magic was prevalent all throughout the age, even up until the end of the Middle Age. Events in Evenstar During the destruction of the werefolk, humans spread north and created two countries - Cumberland in the south, and Chaldea in the north. When the dragons in the Breffendraske Mountains learned of this atrocity, they banded together to attempt to wipe out the humans once and for all, not only for their deeds but also due to a need for more territory and food. However, they were unsure of the humans' abilities, as like the Werefolk, dragons are creatures tied to magic, even more so than even the Werefolk. So instead of attacking directly and risking losing thousands upon thousands of their own kin, they kidnapped several thousand humans for the purpose of imprisoning them and exacting a series of brutal experiments on them in order to learn what it took to break them so that they could subjugate them and weaponize them. However, the attempts are met with failure. the first 147 humans either die as a result of the experiments or go mad and kill themselves. The 148th is the first to survive the tests, but manages to escape with the help of a sympathetic dragon. Together, they convince the other dragons to abandon the attempt to destroy humans and to give them a chance to live in peace, even if it results in many dragons perishing of starvation and violence. Also, the humans who have been captured are given the land east of the Breffendraske mountains and blessed with longevity and the ability to manipulate magic, and given eternal friendship with the dragon race. Roughly 237 years after the end of the First Age and 193 years after the Aramani settled in the east, Cumberland sends ships eastward along the southern shores to see what riche they could find and exploit. However, they are met by the Aramani, labeled elves by the humans. The humans loot a coastal village, which ignites a short, but vicious war between humans and elves. The elves take the village of Surrenta, taking all of the fighting-aged men prisoner to prevent a retaliation. After a couple of years of imprisonment, a human named Joseph Breffendraske escapes and makes an attempt to cross the Breffendraske mountains to go home to his wife and daughter. However, he does not make the attempt and freezes to death after facing starvation in the western reaches of the mountains, thus the mountains being named after him. Shortly after his escape, the elves had tried to track him down, and eventually found his body frozen in the mountains. Horrified by the find, they sue for peace, agreeing that humans and elves should open trade and aiding in creating passable routes through the mountains. After 500 years of peace between men and Aramani, a young dragon slew one of the elder dragons, stealing his essence and strength in the process, igniting one of the worst crises of the age. This dragon killed several other dragons and stole their essences in a similar manner, becoming cruel and strong and powerful, but also twisting his being, losing his ability to breath fire and instead having a venomous bite like a serpent. The serpentdragon attacked men and Aramani alike in his vindicitive cruelty, sowing discord and despair wherever he went. The Aramani searched for representatives from both their kind and humans in order to face this threat. In their search, they came upon Michael Leighton, a weaponsmith from the warring nation of Argetia. Leaving behind his wife and son, he agreed to go on the quest of his life to attempt to stop the rampaging dragon. With the assistance of the king of the elves, Michael slew the serpentdragon's mate, who had likewise twisted from her natural form. However, in the battle with the serpentdragon's mate, the king of the elves was grievously wounded and later succumbed to them. Thus, when the time came to face the serpentdragon, Michael faced him alone. Gravely wounded and on the threshold of defeat, the serpentdragon began to boast to him about how he got his strength, and Michael realized he had the strength deep inside of himself to fight back. Using the last of his strength, Michael cast a spell that tore the serpentdragon from his very identity and body, sealing him deep in a labyrinth under the Aramani capital where they had been fighting. Then, Michael died. Some scant ten years later, Michael's son, Daniel, ran away from his home in Argetia, which was then embroiled in a vicious civil war. After being arrested in Chaldea and set to be hung out of spite by the city of Halfminster's duke, he is rescued by the ambassadress of the elves. He quickly befriends her daughter, Sofia, and with her help adjusts to life in Araman. However, after he has settled in, Sofia inadvertently finds herself in the labyrinth where the serpentdragon is, and accidentally sets his soul free. Once he has escaped, the serpentdragon possesses one of the guards and kills Sofia's mother, who Daniel learns is the queen of the Aramani people. On a quest for vengeance, she and Daniel leave to track down the serpentdragon, who has fled to regroup and regain his former strength and form. With the help of two dragons, one of which is the offspring of the serpentdragon and yet has denounced his lineage, they find him and confront him. After a pitched battle, in which Daniel is gravely wounded, he uses his remaining vitality to tear the serpentdragon's essence before he drops to the ground, lifeless. Sofia returns to Araman and is selected to be their next queen, but she abdicates after a few years. She vanishes into the Breffendraske mountains, never to be found again, presumably due to her overwhelming grief. In the years that followed, Argetia collapsed due to starvation and civil war, and conversely, Cumberland and Chaldea combined to form a single country. This new country began to push northward, destroying the country of Barbaria, a country made of people who were half human and half Aramani. After sacking the northern reaches, the army pushed eastward through the Breffendraske mountains and into the Aramani lands. The Aramani and dragons fight bitterly both, but in the end it is futile. A small group of human spellcasters designed a clever spell that tore everyone from the arcane skeins of energy of the earth, killing every single person who currently had such a connection. Thus, both dragons and Aramani perish, ending the Age of Magic.